A few seconds later, Ridings was sliding safely into home plate after Lowell left fielder Kevin Mager made a pair of errors fielding the ball.

It wasn't technically an inside-the-park home run off a major-league All-Star, but Ridings will take it against Buchholz, the Boston Red Sox ace who was on a minor-league rehab assignment Sunday at Dutchess Stadium.

"It was something else," Ridings said. "But he was just another guy that they put out there for us to hit. He wasn't at his best game, obviously. He was just trying to find his mechanics and those things."

The Rengades No. 2 hitter, Darryl George, drew a walk off Buchholz. Ariel Soriano was up next and he hit the second pitch he saw deep to left center, legged out a triple and scored on Lowell's third error of the inning.

"As I stepped up to the plate, it was a little daunting," George said. "I tried not to look at the board because they were showing his stats and his numbers. He had a sub-2.00 ERA and nine wins. I tried to put that out of my mind and focus on my at-bat."

Buchholz was scheduled to throw 40-50 pitches over three innings.

He rebounded by striking out Renegades cleanup hitter Omar Narvaez and getting Ty Young to pop out to short, but James Harris and Pat Blair followed with back-to-back walks.

Buchholz had thrown 38 pitches, 19 for strikes, and was removed from the game.

Hudson Valley rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win, 11-9.

Buchholz was 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 12 starts for the Red Sox before straining a muscle in his neck in early June. He has since developed bursitis in his throwing shoulder, which has delayed his return to the majors.

Over the last few weeks, Buchholz had thrown bullpen sessions and simulated games while on the road with the Red Sox, but he said he needed to get back on the field in a real game situation.

"It's the fans watching you do it," Buchholz said. "It gets your adrenaline going a little bit after you haven't done it in a while."

Buchholz is likely to throw a bullpen session at Fenway Park this week and should get another minor-league assignment on Friday.

"It was effortless," Ridings said of Buchholz's delivery. "He's throwing 88, 89 and it's like he's not even trying. He's got two really good offspeed pitches. You don't really see that much here yet. It was a challenge, but we did what we could with it."

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